Shay Thomason – Page 35 – everything beautiful in it's time

Visitors From Slovakifornia

Post author By Shay
Post date July 30, 2014
2 Comments on Visitors From Slovakifornia

Slovakifornia is not a real place, but it’s the best way to describe where our wonderful visitors came from today. Kailey and Lindsey Richardson are two young ladies that we have known for a long time from our home church in California. They have been serving in an English camp ministry in Slovakia for the past month and today they took the train to come stay with us! Catching up with them today and hearing their stories was such a blessing. Actually, the Lord has done incredible things in their lives and they are documenting some pretty great stories on their own blog so definitely check it out.

It’s absolutely incredible to me that they are in our place in the Czech Republic right now. They rode on the train for more than 5 hours this morning and although they had a few different connections they made it here without much of a hassle. Bethany literally walked over to the train station to meet them and they all walked back to our apartment.

Tonight at the dinner table it was just a blessing to hear about their ministry in Slovakia and how God has been working in the towns they are serving in. These girls have a passion for Christ and the gospel and I’m sure they will see much fruit from their time there. They may be staying with us a few days and then eventually head over to Germany where their uncle serves as a missionary.

One of the neat things they are doing is reading their late mother’s diary who also did some traveling through Europe thirty years ago with one of her friends. I believe they are trying to visit some of the same places she did when she was young and read her thoughts along the way. They shared that often they laugh at some of the things their mom wrote. Karen (their mom) was a special women who loved Christ and we were blessed to know her. These girls definitely have a lot of their mom’s heart in them and talking with them tonight was such a joy to our own souls. What a joy to have see some familiar faces in a place that still feels so unfamiliar.

Tags friends, Kailey, Lindsey, visitors

365 Czech Republic

Rain, the Sandbox, and How to Dad

Post author By Shay
Post date July 28, 2014
1 Comment on Rain, the Sandbox, and How to Dad

Lightning struck, thunder rolled, and it rained a lot. They say that in July is the wettest month in this region. I believe it. Today’s storm packed a punch and when the lightning started it didn’t stop for a while. I shot the below video today while at the JV offices. We have those ceiling windows which made it fun to look straight up at the raining pouring down. If you watch closely a white lined appears about 3-4 seconds in and that’s actually a flash of lightning that my iPhone can’t seem to handle.

When it rains we pretty much have to keep the kids inside, especially when it comes down like it did today. But after I got home this evening things had cleared up so I took the kids to the park while Bethany went to the store. We have some visitors coming tomorrow and Bethany wanted to make sure we had enough food while they stay with us. More on that in tomorrow’s blog!

Titus wanted to take some sand toys to the park so we carried (well, Avery carried) the buckets over and we walked down the street to the closest play area. Even though it was a little muddy the kids took their shoes off and began to dig. Titus said, “Just like the beach!” so I just went with it. We packed the buckets as much as we could and started to build a castle fortress. That’s what dad’s do, right? Our job is basically to up the awesome in whatever we’re doing with the kids (sometimes to the chagrin of mom!). So I got down in the sand and we filled up some buckets and built ourselves a castle. I actually had a lot of fun. It was wet, my hands felts weird from the sand, but the kids were laughing and loving it and that made it all worth it.

Later tonight the kids had a little snack at the table and I was finishing up some of my own Bible reading and just happened to be in Proverbs 4. I told the kids, “Let me read to you from my Bible.” In dramatic fashion I was reading to them from that passage which is a chapter written from a dad to his son. When I got to Proverbs 4:7 I said, “Get wisdom!” Bethany then brought me a little book we have called “Get Wisdom!” that is written as a little study for kids and parents so I flipped to the first section on “Listening” and the kids and I worked on their listening skills. Then we flipped to “Orderliness” and we started cleaning up the room and putting all the toys away.

During those moments I was reminded how important it is for dad to be dad, especially when it comes to spiritual things and leading my kids. It’s not that I didn’t know that, but I just had a fresh reminder of it tonight. I need to be able to play with them in the sandbox and practice with them in our house. I need to be able to “Wraskel” (wrestle) with them in our bed and then work with them and help them grow.

That’s probably why I was so impressed today by a commercial that Cheerios released on YouTube this past week. For the first time in a really long time it’s actually in praise of dads. So often in advertising the dad is seen as inferior to mom and kind of an idiot, but in this ad Cheerios actually praises fatherhood. At one point the dad even says, “Dadhood isn’t always easy because when a rule is broken we’re the enforcement…but when a heart is broken we’re the reenforcement.” Now that’s a message I can get behind–that’s how to dad.

Tags fun, kids, rain, sand

365 Czech Republic

Parenting and Doing Church in Czech

Post author By Shay
Post date July 27, 2014
1 Comment on Parenting and Doing Church in Czech

Today we enjoyed our fifth Sunday at our new church here in Czech. For the most part the services are very similar to a church service in the States with music, announcements, preaching, prayer and sometimes a testimony or two. Today they did a baby dedication for a little baby named Matthew. It’s the second one we’ve seen and it’s always a joy to watch the care the pastors have for the families here and as we listen through a translator we can tell they truly care about these parents and the children. Even this morning the pastor reminded the parents and the rest of the church that children are a gift from God (see Psalm 127:3-5).

We probably needed that reminder more than the parentings dedication their baby today. For whatever reason our kids just didn’t want to be in church today. Now, granted, it’s different for them right now. Everything is new, they are having to sit with us through the whole 2+ hour services, it’s hot, they’re sweaty, and it’s just generally a little hard. But we really are trying to work hard at teaching and training them to listen, obey, and be respectful of everyone else during the service. They only usually last about an hour (at most) before the “breakdown” as I’ll call it. Today I think it was only 30 minutes before Titus was bursting out crying and Bethany was carrying him out of the building. Avery lasted a little longer with some distraction, but soon she was bolting for the door saying, “Mommy! I want mommy!” For a while we were in and out of the service and just kept switching. It feels like those wrestlers who stand outside the ring waiting for a hand slap and then they’re in and the other one is out.

For the summer months the church doesn’t really have Sunday school classes for the kids. A lot of people are on holiday (vacation) and even though there are still a lot of families around they just don’t do classes for the kids until the fall months begin. So you can imagine the challenge for us as we try keeping our kids behaved while listening to the service through a translator ear piece and hopefully not be a huge distraction from the worship. Thankfully the Czechs seem to be very forgiving of us, but it’s like flying with screaming kids…you just feel the burden of it as a parent. For the last 20 or so minutes of the service Bethany finally resorted to taking both kids outside where a few other families were as well (shown below playing in dirt).

Really what we need right now is prayer specifically for church and Sundays. We need patience, grace, wisdom, and love for our kids. Our desire is to stay calm, be understanding, but also help train them during this process and transition. Sundays are important to us. There’s a lot going in as we learn the culture, meet new people, learn the language, and try to participate in the worship service on Sunday. But today those things were definitely put on the back burner as our kids really just needed us to work with them. Please pray for us as we learn and grow in all of this.

Beyond church afternoon was actually really restful. Chris spent most of the day with us and had to leave for his meetings around 4 o’clock this afternoon. It was such a joy to talk with him and hear his heart for the people of Slovenia. We’re thrilled that God has called the Wick family to they very needy country.

Later Avery and I played a little game of Candy Land and it was fun just spending a little one on one time with her.

Tonight Bethany made home made pizza and we just spent time together as a family. We tried Skyping with Bethany’s parents but there was something wrong with their connection and all of our troubleshooting just didn’t seem to fix it. We try to Skype at least once a week with them and usually Sundays are good time for that. Hopefully we can figure out the technical glitch and get another time in with them this week.

As I was doing the dishes the faucet just kind of came off the pipe (shown above). That has never really happened to me and I genuinely starting laughing out loud when it did. “Bethany!” I yelled from the kitchen. “The faucet just fell off into the sink!” She immediately started laughing too. I don’t know why I was laughing because honestly that would really frustrate me normally. Maybe it’s just because we kind of expect that kind of thing to happen now? Things don’t always work like the way we think they should here in Czech. That’s just life right now.

But God is still in control and He cares as much about how I respond to my faucet as how I respond when my kids are loud and crazy in church. A lot of it is a change in my attitude. I should expect that it’s going to be hard in church and not normal for our kids. That’s OK. With a few cranks of my wrench I was able to get the faucet working again and with a lot grace, patience, discipline, love, and the Lord’s help I hope we’ll be able to sit through a Czech church service as a family. God is in control and that’s enough for us today.

Tags church, kids, parenting

365 Czech Republic Friends

Our First House Guest

Tonight we’re hosting our first overnight visitor, Chris Wick!

Chris, Ashley, and their four kids live in the country of Slovenia and are also missionaries with JV. The fun part about our relationship with the Wick’s is that there was a short time that we served with them at Placerita Baptist Church (our sending church) in California. So when Chris emailed me and said he was coming to Czech for some meetings and asked if he could stay with us we of course said, “Yes!”

We have been chatting and hanging with Chris since he arrived and it’s been really fun to catch up. Chris was an enormous help to me personally during our supporting raising process and even just our initial thoughts about doing ministry overseas. He was always checking in on us over email and would often call me while we were in the States to offer advice and his thoughts on anything related to ministry over here. I can actually remember two key conversations with Chris that were so helpful in me thinking through how to quit my job and start support raising and all that goes with that. It’s just too bad we couldn’t see the whole Wick clan, but Chris is here in Czech this weekend for some sports ministry meetings with other JV staff. We’re super thankful for him and his family!

Outside of Chris coming over we mostly spent our day unpacking and cleaning house. I finally put the doors and door pulls on our IKEA wardrobes and Titus and I went to Poland for a few small things at the hardware store. Believe it or not, I actually got pulled over coming back in to Czech for not having my headlights on. Thankfully the police office understood that I’m new to the area, don’t speak Czech, and that I’m from America. He didn’t give me a ticket! And I’m doubly thankful that my wife reminded me to bring our passports even though we were just running to the store in Poland. Key: don’t leave the country without your passport even if the other country is basically across the street!

That’s all for tonight. We’re looking forward to our 5th Sunday at church tomorrow!

Tags Chris Wick, friend

365 Czech Republic

Hanging With Zach and Kara

Post author By Shay
Post date July 25, 2014
2 Comments on Hanging With Zach and Kara

We had a pretty full morning today complete with Czech lessons and a trip over to the bank to sign what must have been at least a dozen documents. Our lessons went really well, but it’s a constant reminder that we need to study our notes daily and just keep up on our Czech vocabulary. It’s not any easy language and I feel like even though were just scratching the surface I’m starting to feel fatigue.

Tonight Zach and Kara invited us over for dinner at their house in Havířov which is about 20 minutes from our place. I’ve known Zach since the 4th grade and his family is near and dear to my heart. Zach and Kara have been here full-time in Czech for almost 2 years now, but Kara has been living in Czech much longer and Zach has served on many other short-term trips. We had a great time seeing their place for the first time and just catching up. They served us an “American dinner” (cheeseburgers!), complete with real American cheese. After being here for a month I can tell you that American cheese is not easy to find!

After dinner we took a walk down to a nearby park (just like we did yesterday). It’s seems to be a normal and fun thing to do after dinner, especially since it’s usually a little cooler outside than inside. Unfortunately the mosquitos were out in droves and that cut our time a little short, but that didn’t stop the kids from checking out yet another amazing park.

While we were outside we stopped in a town square type area near Zach and Kara’s place. They saw some young people that they knew so we met and talked with them for a bit. But in that square is a large metal arrow shaped thing above a fountain that swings. I just thought it was an art piece and a fountain, but Kara told us that there used to be a statue of Vladimir Lenin in that square and it was replaced with this crazy arrow thing.

We stayed a little later than we should have because the kids needed to get to bed, but we were having a great time just hanging and laughing together. I think we left a little after 10pm, but Avery was still trying to keep the party going. Here she is with a kazoo and a shaker. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in this photo, but I think it’s awesome that my daughter loves music.

Thanks Zegan family for having us over tonight! It was really fun seeing you and I’m sure we’ll be able to do it again soon.

Tags dinner, friends, Kara, Zach

365 Czech Republic Friends

Another First: Dinner in a Czech Home

Post author By Shay
Post date July 24, 2014
1 Comment on Another First: Dinner in a Czech Home

This is what I saw when I walked in to the Creative Communications office this morning. Water…and lots of it.

All over the desks, on the keyboard of one of the computers, and on the floor. How did this happen you ask? Our office is on the third floor and the ceiling slopes. There are no windows on the walls but they are ceiling windows that open. They were left open all night (not by me, but I’ll protect the guilty on this blog). It was raining pretty good this morning so when I got there you can imagine my shock. Thankfully and amazingly nothing was broken! But still… talk about an early morning heart attack. Yikes.

Earlier this week we got invited by Marcel and Silvie to have dinner at their house. They live in our town and had already invited Yorman family over (American missionaries) so they asked if we wanted to join them. Marcel and Silvie are part of our church here and Marcel has been helping me get our Internet upgraded at our apartment. They are a sweet couple and have two little ones, Dennis and Julia. Here’s a picture of all of us (minus me, of course):

We enjoyed a great time tonight just talking and enjoying the time at a Czech home. Believe it or not, this was the very first meal we have ever had in a Czech home. Silvie made a delicious dinner. I have no idea what’s it’s called but she hand made this piecrust-like bread filled with eggs, ham, cabbage, cheese…mmm, so good–I had 3 helpings! Here’s a few photos of the all the food and the amazing vine covered patio area:

Before and after dinner the kids played in the beautiful back yard. There was a great swing set and lots of toys to play with. Behind their property were turkeys running around so I had to get a few shots of them too!

Marcel thought everyone had eaten too much and suggested a walk to the nearby park with all the kids. We all agreed and off we went! For the kids it was more of a run than a walk, but I didn’t expect the incredible park we went to. One of the things we’ve loved about Czech is just how kid friendly things are and even how there are parks with lots of things to play on that you won’t find in safety conscious America. Merry go rounds, zip lines, teeter totters–this park had it all!

Here’s a video of the kids and me on the merry go round (I gave it an old-timey feel because it felt like a blast from the past):

It was a really fun night with Marcel and his family and the Yorman family. We’re so thankful for their hospitality to us tonight and for making us feel welcome here in Czech!

Tags Czechs, dinner, first things first, park

365 Czech Republic

Ministry Beginning and Enjoying Family Time

Post author By Shay
Post date July 24, 2014
2 Comments on Ministry Beginning and Enjoying Family Time

Years of prayer went in to today. For over three years Josiah Venture has been praying and actively searching for a team of people who will help create materials and provide support in the area of communications for the entire JV family. Today, with the exception of one team member who will be back next week, that team was working away in the JV offices together for the first time (shown above). The Creative Communications team that I have the privilege of serving on is a group of highly talented people, all missionaries, who work to support all of the ministries of JV by providing high quality materials such as design work, video, photography, writing, and lots more. Let me give you an example of something we’re working on right now.

Above you’ll see me sitting in Dave Patty’s home office here in Czech (thanks to his wife and daughter for grabbing some photos for our blog!). Dave is the president of Josiah Venture, but he’s also a highly gifted leader and a wonderful person to spend time with. Dave and I met today to work through a few new projects. Right now Dave, along with one of the JV country leaders, is developing training material specifically designed to train young, Christian leaders. The project includes booklets for leadership trainers and trainees to use which include Biblical studies tools that help build mature disciples of Christ. Alongside the book is a Web site for the trainer as a support tool where Dave and other staff can provide additional information for leaders to be able to use so they can go out and train more leaders. All of these materials will be made available to the 13 different countries JV currently serves in. But who will create all of those books and materials? Who will build and maintain a Web site with multiple languages and updated content? The Creative Communications team or “cTeam.” And the best part is…we love doing it!

Dave said something today that just hit me. I don’t want to misquote him, but he said something to the effect of, “These materials will lead to more fruit.” He’s talking about spiritual fruit and he’s talking about more followers of Christ. Dave knows the power of God’s Word working through the Spirit of God in the hands of people, and these materials reflect much Biblical study and thought and focus. The cTeam gets to be part of helping create them alongside Dave and other leaders and we too can hope and pray for more fruit. That’s why we’re here…that’s why God called us to this place. And that’s where it gets fun, and that’s where it really gets exciting!

After my time with Dave, I head the pleasure of spending a few minutes with his wife Connie and daughter Claire. If you haven’t visited it, I would recommend checking out Connie’s blog that she regularly writes on. It was fun to chat and laugh with them a bit this afternoon. Lord willing our family will get a lot more time with them!

Back at home Bethany took the kids to the park that’s close to our place. It’s a really fun park and the kids have lots of things they can climb on (as you can see above). We just love the look of the buildings on our street…it’s still really surreal that we live here, and I think that’s why Bethany took that photo just to show the kinds of places we see every day. Apparently it started to rain a bit while they were playing at the park and everyone ran for shelter, but Bethany said Titus braved the rain to keep playing (shown below).

After I got home we enjoyed a little time playing basketball outside. Titus was so excited to get his basketball hoop setup and all the basketballs pumped up. I’ve been wanting to do that for him for a while now, but just found the time tonight.

Bethany made a wonderful dinner tonight. She told me tonight that she is really trying hard to write down all the meals she knows she can make here in Czech. I think it’s also getting a lot easier to manage all the new things at the grocery store! Bethany has been doing so awesome and I’m very thankful for her selfless attitude during this transition time.

Here’s a few more photos from our evening together:

And our feast this evening… Pioneer Woman’s meatloaf and creamy mashed potatoes. Yummy!

Tags cTeam, ministry

365 Czech Republic

Bananas and Gummy Bears

On my way out the door this morning Bethany handed me two things: a banana and a package of gummy bears. Why? I’m pretty sure she was just anticipating my needs. I had to get a little bit of work done today at the JV office so she knows I’ll probably need something to snack on when I get hungry (banana) and then something sweet when I get tired (gummy bears). Only the best wives can anticipate those kinds of needs. She’s a great wife.

There’s a little restaurant near the JV offices which offers very affordable lunch specials so I went there today with a Czech named Dushan. He’s a quieter guy, but really nice. He works doing IT for Josiah Venture and he speaks pretty good English so we had a good time together this afternoon. He told me he was “alone” this week because his wife and kids were away for a few days with family while he’s working, but that he was going to see them again soon. I was glad to join him so he could have a little company at least for one meal.

We did one of those American style trips to the grocery store tonight. By that I mean we tried shopping for multiple days worth of meals. It seems that culturally they shop daily or every other day, but I guess we’re just used to shopping for more at once and since we have a larger refrigerator we can basically make it work. The only problem is you have to bag your own groceries and people don’t like waiting for you, so Bethany and I begin the mad hustle of trying to bag everything and keep it going in the cart while the kids are playing with everything and talking louder than the other kids…it feels crazy. And maybe it is? Maybe we’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and we just need to adjust. Definitely something for us to think about.

Bethany and the kids enjoyed a little picnic outside today. The weather was very nice and comfortable. Not too hot, but not cold. We had the windows open tonight and a nice breeze was blowing through our place. I thought it was supposed to rain today, but I didn’t feel a drop. Rain or not, it was nice to have a little break from the recent heat.

That’s it for me tonight. Time for bed and we’ll do this again tomorrow!

Tags Czech, Dushan, picnic, weather

365 Czech Republic

Thunder and Thankfulness

It rained today. Actually it was a really fun thunder and lighting storm. Us southern California kids aren’t used to thunder and lighting, but it’s definitely an exciting change. The rain also helped cool the temps down today which was a good break.

I spent most of the day at the JV offices which is about a 30 minute drive from where we live. I carpooled with a friend who also works out of that office. My team is working on a lot of fun projects that I’m hoping to share about at some point on the blog. Right now it’s just a lot of meetings and face time with other JV staff which is really fun for me.

Tonight Bethany made a really good meal and we enjoyed our first meal together as a family on our new dining table. We enjoyed a little family time tonight reading books and doing a large circle kids puzzle. Bethany got about 3 more moving boxes emptied today, mostly books that she’s put on our new bookshelves. After the kids went to bed we spent a lot of time working through our budget and making sure our accounts are in order. The past month has just been crazy. Looking at receipts and entering things into our budget software was just reminding how much we have done this month. God has been so faithful to us.

One of the best things about writing daily is it gives me a constant reminder of God’s goodness and leads me to thankfulness. I’ms sure that harder days will come, but right now I feel like the Lord is just simply letting us settle here without a lot of major interruption. For that I’m definitely thankful. I’m thankful for my hard working wife and our two little ones. I’m thankful to serve the Lord in this capacity. I’m thankful that God provides just what we need and even sometimes gives us a little more than that. I’m thankful for new friends and even old friends who took the time this week to call us from the States. I’m thankful that God has brought us here, taken us on an amazing journey, and continues to work in our lives.

Tags storm, thankful, working

365 Czech Republic

Church and the Zoo

Another Sunday in Czech and another great day with God’s people. Our church here in Czech has long been partnering with an American church and Welsh church to put on an English camp near our town. Today those two churches (the American and Welsh churches) came to our church to share about this past week’s camp and what God had done. In the above video, the whole camp sang “10,000 Reasons” and our friends said it was the first time they had ever heard an English song in this church since they came here three years ago. What’s neat too is that Bethany said she had prayed this morning that they would sing a song she knew the melody too. Obviously, the Lord provided the melody and the language. Amazingly, they also sang “How Great Thou Art” in Czech later in the service!

Today our friends Casey and Kristin (along with their two boys) took us to the zoo in Ostrava! We had talked about it earlier in the week and we thought this Sunday would be a good time to go and it definitely was. Although it was a little hot outside, we had a great time. The funny thing about the zoo here is it’s a whole lot more than a zoo. It’s very kid friendly and there must be a dozen little parks as well as water play areas. The kids loved it! We probably spent 70% of our time playing and the other 30% looking at animals. The Ostrava zoo is very nice and the prices of food and drinks is super reasonable so we enjoyed a lunch together as well. It was a really fun day enjoying the weather, friends, and the amazing animals that God created. Here’s a bunch of photos from our day.

Tags animals, church, kids, zoo